A-Z
by percabethanpuckabrinaforevs
Summary: From Arguing to Zoo, these are the moments that might have been missed, or might have been done between characters that don't usually get to voice their point of view. In no particular order are these cute little moments filed, and yet I certainly hope you enjoy them! I, percabethanpuckabrinaforevs hereby declare that I do NOT own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rated T to be safe
1. A

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO and HOO! I do not own it! This is just an alphabetized list of things that come to mind when thinking about PJO or HOO. By the way, this is the only author's note that I'm going to write this whole story.**

**A for Arguing**

Katie Gardener scowled at Travis and Connor Stoll for the latest prank they pulled. Recently, it seemed that she and Travis were always arguing. Connor was smart enough to avoid Katie, but Travis always stopped when Katie went into one of her rants, yelling some of his own insults out to her.

"Do you realize how STUPID our cabin looks with chocolate bunnies on the roof?" Katie shouted.

"Well, do _you_ realize how stupid you sounded when you said bunnies were stupid?" Travis yelled back.

"I did not say that! Lily did!" Katie hollered.

"So what? Lily's still your sister, and you could've set her straight!" Travis challenged.

"Um, Travis, do you think you could continue your discussion with Katie later?" Connor pulled at his brother's T-shirt. "We're kind of attracting a crowd.

"Travis, don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" Katie shrieked.

"Wow, Gardener, I didn't know we were on first name basis now." Travis smirked, revealing a little bit of how much he enjoyed riling up Katie like this.

Katie blushed slightly, but she forged ahead. "Don't distract me! It's like me yelling at you for something Connor said!"

"Fine, Kit-Kat, have it your way." Travis shrugged.

"DON'T CALL ME KIT-KAT!" Katie roared.

"But I thought we were on first name basis?"

"Tr-Stoll! Quit it!" Katie resisted the urge to stomp her foot like a child.

"Did you call for a Stoll, Ma'am?" Connor grinned cheekily at her.

Katie let out a frustrated scream before turning on her heel and storming away to her garden.

Travis and Connor high-fived once she was out of sight.

"We always win these arguments!" Connor cheered.

"That's why she hates us." Travis pointed out.

They thought about this for a moment, before their attention was quickly distracted.

"Ooh! Shiny!"


	2. B

**B is for Birthday**

Annabeth kissed her boyfriend's cheek as she settled down next to him on the beach.

"Happy birthday, Seaweed Brain." She sighed, leaning against him.

"Happy anniversary, Wise Girl." Percy answered.

Annabeth looked at him, surprised. "You remembered?"

"Well, it is the most important day of my life." Percy admitted. "How could I not?"

Annabeth laughed lightly. "My present for your birthday and anniversary is at my cabin."

"Mine is at the dining pavilion." Percy said.

Annabeth frowned, but then quickly shrugged it off. She didn't want to waste time wondering why Percy's present was at the dining pavilion; she wanted to spend it watching the sunset in her boyfriend's arms.

A conch shell sounded in the distance, and Percy sighed.

"Time for dinner." He didn't sound too regretful. "We can always watch the sunset tomorrow evening."

Annabeth nodded in reluctance. "Can we stop at my cabin before going for dinner?"

Percy nodded.

Once they reached her cabin, Percy waited outside while Annabeth dug through her things. Finally, she found his present and returned outside.

"Here you go, Seaweed Brain." She couldn't help but smile as Percy's grin lit up his whole face.

He didn't waste time with any "oh, you shouldn't have's", or "thank you's." He immediately dug through the wrapping paper and pulled out his present.

It was a keychain in the shape of a trident, with his name engraved on one side, and Annabeth's name engraved on the other.

"Oh, man! This is awesome! Thanks, Annabeth!" Percy shouted, bringing it up to his face to examine it more closely.

Annabeth relaxed slightly. She hadn't been sure if he would've liked it, because he was a boy, but it turned out she needn't have worried.

"How did you get our names on it?" Percy asked.

"My dad knows a guy." Annabeth shrugged modestly.

They came to the dining pavilion and split to their separate tables.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows as she noticed the Hunters and Thalia occupying Artemis's table, and Jason at Zeus's. Nico was at Hades's table, and even Tyson had shown up. It wasn't all because of Percy's birthday, was it? Last time she'd checked, Jason hadn't even known when that was, and Thalia never celebrated it, because it marked the death of Luke.

While Annabeth didn't like not knowing things, she had to shrug it off, because Malcolm and two of her sisters immediately needed her help on solving a mathematical dispute.

Dinner was in full swing when Annabeth felt someone tap her shoulder.

She turned around to see Percy, grinning at her.

"Follow me." He mouthed.

Annabeth slipped out from her table and followed Percy to the middle of the dining pavilion.

"LISTEN UP!" He shouted, and everyone shut up. No one (who didn't know him) wanted to defy orders from Percy Jackson.

"Okay, so, I know today is my birthday. But it's also a really special day for me because today is the day Annabeth and I got together as a couple. I'm not one for sappy romantic speeches, but today I have to do something." He took a breath and turned to Annabeth. "So before I lose my nerve…"

Percy bent down on one knee and pulled a black velvet box from his pocket.

The dining pavilion was pin-drop silent as he gazed at Annabeth, who stared right back at him, just as intensely.

"Annabeth Chase…daughter of Athena…will you please, pretty please, with a cherry on top, agree to spend the rest of your life with me? Marry me?"

Everyone waited to see Annabeth's reaction.

When she finally found her voice, she found she had tears in her eyes, too.

"YES! YES! YES!" She screeched, tackling him in a hug.

"Gods, she could rival Katie Gardner for loudest scream." Travis Stoll muttered under his breath.

"Annabeth." Percy whispered, sliding a beautiful simple diamond ring onto her finger. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Annabeth replied.

And with that, she leaned up and kissed him on the lips.

When they finally pulled away, Percy grinned at her, and she knew he was going to ruin the moment with something so Seaweed Brain.

"BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!" He shouted, punching the air.


	3. C

**C is for Clever**

"Hey, Annabeth, do you know where my notes are?" Malcolm shouted into the mostly empty cabin.

"I haven't touched them." She promised, looking up from her blueprints.

"Neither have Blair, Clair, or Tommy." Malcolm sighed. "I just don't know where they could be, and I really don't want to have to go track down the rest of our cabin to ask each and every one of them."

Annabeth shifted her books to see if Malcolm's notes had been accidently put under her things, but she didn't see them. She got up and joined Malcolm by his bed.

"You'll find them, Mal." Annabeth encouraged. "What were they about? Maybe Percy's seen them."

"You just want an excuse to see your boyfriend." Malcolm snorted.

"Fiancée." Annabeth pointed out. "And what were they about?"

"Well, I was thinking about reutilizing that area right by the beach, you know, the one where only Percy goes, because the water are too dangerous, otherwise?"

Annabeth nodded.

"Well, I was thinking that if Percy could get any stray fish away from there, we could set up a dam of sorts. Nothing too big, so the sea and beach shouldn't be affected, but it would be a great way to power some electricity, and then we could power camp. I mean, we don't use that much electricity here anyway, so just a small project like that could take care of all our electric needs." Malcolm explained, feeling foolish as his sister went over his plans in her head.

She looked at him calmly, and Malcolm waited for Athena's favorite child to tell him that he was second best, never good enough.

"Malcolm, I promise I'll help you find your notes, and if we can't find them, I'll help you remake them." She told him. "That sounds like an amazing idea. You're really clever, Mal."

Malcolm was called a lot of things, from genius to smarty-pants. But when his older, more beautiful, more intelligent, better liked…well, just better in everything, half-sister called him clever, it felt as though he had just won the Nobel Peace prize.


	4. D

**D is for Death**

Nico Di Angelo is surrounded by darkness, by death. His father is the Lord of the Underworld, after all.

He wasn't always dark and depressed and emo-like. There was once a time when Nico was happy, light, a carefree kid.

Those days are long gone now, and sometimes, when he reminisces about the past, he wonders how he could have possibly been that alive, when now all he has are the ghosts and whispers of the world, following him. Now, death and destruction and loneliness are not the problems of people in Africa, but the day-to-day life of a little boy grown up too fast.

That all changed when Nico met Percy Jackson. Yes, at first he was angry. He was angry at Percy, at Bianca, at his father, at the world. Percy made a wonderful scapegoat. But when the Seaweed Brain came after him, to protect him, even though everything Nico had ever done to him was bad, Nico's vision of the son of Poseidon drastically changed. Soon, Percy became Nico's best friend. His only friend, who stuck by him even when the world seemed to hate him.

And soon, Percy went from being a trusted friend, to a big brother. And although at first, Nico felt as though he was betraying Bianca's memory, he soon realized that he was making the right choice. Percy was a fantastic big brother, and for once, the boy who lived in death didn't see it as an inevitable scary end. He saw it as hope.


	5. E

**E is for Eagle**

Eagle. The sacred animal of Zeus/Jupiter. So, technically, the sacred animal of all of Zeus/Jupiter's children, right?

Wrong.

Jason barely suppressed a shriek (a manly shriek) as the bald eagle soared down toward him again. He leaped out of the way, and ducked behind a tree as the eagle neatly did some kind of mid-air acrobatic flip and glided lazily after him.

This was supposed to be an easy mission. Go out of camp and find a good river where he, Reyna, Gwen, and Dakota could do an Iris Message to Camp Half Blood.

And then the stupid eagle showed up, intent on eating Jason's face for its meal today.

Jason ducked down as the eagle once again dove for him.

He looked around, assessing his options.

Option number one would be to keep avoiding the eagle until it decided to go away.

Option two would be to take the eagle down…with a weapon…of some…kind.

Option three would be to run all the back to camp with the eagle on his tail, and then beg Reyna to make someone else go.

Well, Option three was definitely out. Eagle or no eagle, Jason was man.

Option number one wasn't looking so good either, so he was left with attacking the rare bald eagle with something.

Jason just hoped that no wildlife mortal came wandering by at this exact moment. Mist or no mist, they'd probably still see Jason hurting a rare and endangered species.

What could he use to bring the evil eagle down? Certainly not his sword…a rock, maybe?

Jason grabbed a fallen tree branch and took aim. Ready…Steady…Fire!

The branch flew through the air, and connected solidly with the bird's beak.

It screeched angrily, but rose back into the air, shaken but alive.

"Shoot." Jason looked around desperately, then made a quick decision.

He'd rather be humiliated than dead or blind.

RUN!


	6. F

**F is for Fair/Family**

One of the first lessons that Leo Valdez learned was that life wasn't fair.

Leo didn't have anyone. His mom died, and he blamed himself. Hephaestus was not greatest dad, god or not. Jason had Piper, and vice versa. They were there for him, but they were more there for each other.

Leo was alone. Oh, sure, he wasn't _alone_ alone. But sometimes, when he was on his own, he couldn't help but pull out the pity party. After all, a joker has to hide some kind of pain. You can't have funny without the serious.

But sometimes, when he disappears for hours into areas of the woods, or some hiding place he'd found for his tools, that he was going to go and retrieve, he returned and found the entire camp frantic, because they couldn't find him.

And although he had to deal with Jason lecturing him, Piper screaming her head off, and then a very vicious/relieved Nyssa and Jake, Leo couldn't help but feel loved. Or at the very least, wanted.

So sometimes, he would hide out purposefully. Whenever he saw one of his fellow campers freaking out, he felt bad, but he also felt peaceful, knowing that they cared.

And so, while life wasn't fair, at least it gave you what you deserved. And Leo Valdez was pretty certain he about deserved a caring family. Even if it was filled with a bunch of weirdos, it was a still a fantastic family.


	7. G

**G is for Gambling**

Jake glared at his little sister, Nyssa, who was fast asleep.

On the table.

Again.

He was getting sick of her staying up a little later than light's out to work on something for her blueprints for the Argo II, and then stayed up so late that she just fell asleep on the table.

For the first couple nights, she would pull all-nighters, and Jake figured she probably really was on the verge of a breakthrough. After all, almost everyone in the Hephaestus cabin had pulled an all-nighter once or twice to get something done.

But then, after about a week, Nyssa stopped eating.

At first, it was just skipping breakfast to work on her project. No one thought much of that.

Then, when Leo came in to call her for lunch, she promised that she would eat it later.

Then, with the food that Leo had brought in for her untouched, she told him she wasn't hungry for dinner.

This went on for two weeks. Then, Jake knew he had to do something. This wasn't healthy. This was ridiculous.

So, he told Leo his plan. And Leo completely agreed with him. No one wanted to actually confront Nyssa, but something had to be done.

Jake strode across the cabin. Everyone watched with their breath held as he approached Nyssa.

Without stopping to wake her up, Jake just leaned down and picked her up off the table.

Shockingly, she didn't wake up.

Jake carried her to her bed and laid her down.

Instead of just leaving her, though, he shook her awake.

"Wha?" Nyssa blinked at him.

"Wake up." He told her simply. "It's time for dinner."

"I can't have dinner." She told him in a tight voice. "I have to finish my blueprints."

Nyssa turned away before realizing that she wasn't at the table on her chair anymore.

"How?" Nyssa muttered to herself.

Jake rolled his eyes.

Leo popped up from seemingly nowhere, balancing a tray full of food in his hands.

"Dinnertime!" He shouted.

Jake turned to look at Nyssa expectantly, who scowled in response.

"I'm not hungry."

"Why am I not surprised? Listen, Nys, in order to survive, you kind of have to do this little thing called eating. Trust me, you'll feel loads better when you finish." Leo encouraged.

Nyssa didn't budge.

Jake made a noise of exasperation in the back of his throat. He grabbed the tray from Leo and shoved it into Nyssa's lap.

"Marinyssa Mackenzie Miller, you are not moving from that spot until you finish that food. I don't care if I have to sit down next to you all night, but that food had better be eaten, do you understand?"

Nyssa sent him a death glare for using her whole name, but since she was looking up at him, and her skin was deathly pale, she didn't look very scary.

Jake crossed his arms over his chest, and Nyssa did the same.

"I not _hungry_." She snapped. "Now let me up. I could be doing more productive things, you know."

Jake glanced at Leo, who tossed him a blanket and pillow. With that, he put the pillow on the edge of the bed and leaned backwards, so that his feet barred Nyssa from being able to move away.

Nyssa opened her mouth to protest, but he just glared at her again.

With no way out, Nyssa did the next best option.

She picked at her food. Without actually putting anything in her mouth, she hoped that if she looked as though she were eating something, her brother would let her up.

He didn't. In fact, it seemed as though he had realized her plan, because he was glaring at her even more intensely then before.

Nyssa sighed and leaned back, shoving her tray away from her. She _really_ could be working on her blueprints right now.

"Quit playing with your food." Jake growled.

"No." Nyssa scowled. She didn't have enough energy to snap. All she wanted to do was get back to her blueprints, and not deal with this, but her pride kept getting in the way.

Jake sighed in exasperation again, and sat up. However, he didn't get up to let her go, like Nyssa was gleefully expecting.

Instead, he moved closer towards her. He grabbed her tray and pulled it onto his lap, pushing some food onto the spoon.

Nyssa frowned. "What are you –"

Jake grabbed the opportunity and shoved her spoon in her mouth, forcing her to swallow it.

Nyssa placed at hand on her mouth and gave him her best death face. She couldn't believe that he had done that.

Jake just gave an uncharacteristic smirk. "Hungry now?"

Nyssa shook her head, but her stomach had grabbed onto the food and started immediately begging for more. It growled loudly.

Jake rolled his eyes and held up a spoonful of more food.

"Come on, Nys." He shook it invitingly.

Nyssa held on to whatever dignity was left and turned her head away.

"Do I have to pretend it's a plane?" Jake asked rhetorically. He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her face.

Nyssa, despite herself, turned to look at him questioningly.

With her attention on him, Jake began making "plane noises."

He slowly started "flying" the plane toward Nyssa's mouth.

"Oh, look, the plane needs somewhere to land! Where is it going to land, or will all the poor people on the plane have nowhere to go? Come on, Nyssa, don't be heartless, open your mouth and let them land so they can refuel. Oh, Nyssa, they're begging you to let them land…" The spoon came dangerously close to Nyssa's mouth, and she turned away abruptly.

"You are so stupid." She grumbled.

"The poor people!" Leo called out. Nyssa turned to see that the entire cabin was watching Jake try to get her to eat. Oh, wonderful.

"Can't you hear them calling?" Jake asked, bringing the spoon close again.

Nyssa backed up to avoid the spoon, and her back hit the wall.

"Stop!" She desperately called out to Jake, but he pushed the spoon into her mouth.

"See how easy that was?" Jake tried not to laugh at Nyssa's expression.

She pulled the blanket over her face, but Jake calmly pulled it away again.

"You're being so mean." Nyssa whined.

Jake didn't even bother rolling his eyes, instead pushing the spoon in her mouth again.

Nyssa didn't bother to fight back as he continued to spoon feed her. She knew when a battle was lost.

She did, however, continue to annoy him to the best of her ability.

"I don't like you anymore." Food. "You're annoying." Food. "Why can't you let me back to my blueprints?" Food. "You're not my favorite brother anymore." Food. "I don't like this food." Food. "It's yucky." Food. "I could be doing something more productive." Food. "I'm going to tell Chiron that you made me do something I didn't want to." Food. "I'm not getting you a present this Christmas." Food. "I'm not getting you a present for your birthday, either." Food.

Finally, all the food was gone, and Jake quit humiliating her by feeding her. He put the tray on the floor and wiped her face with a napkin.

"Stop! I'm not a baby!" Nyssa cried.

"Really? Because you're certainly acting like one." Jake told her. "Oh, and you just make me a card each year for Christmas and birthday."

"Is it my fault that I don't have any money? Plus, I can't exactly just leave camp whenever I feel like to get you something." Nyssa grumbled.

"You give me a piece of paper that says 'Happy Birthday, Jake. Love, Nyssa' on it." Jake pointed out.

"No! Sometimes it says 'Merry Christmas, Jake." Nyssa protested. "Besides, you always tell me you love it."

"I do, because at least you remember which day to give it to me." Jake sighed.

Nyssa stuck out her tongue childishly. She knew Jake was only teasing her, to detain her from getting her work done.

"Let me up. I finished dinner. I want to get back to my blueprints."

"No. It's lights out." Jake smirked again at her.

"Hey!" Nyssa pushed his shoulder. "I need to get work done! You're so mean!"

"It's ten o'clock. Mean or not, we still need to go to sleep."

"I'll sleep in a minute, once I'm done with my work." Nyssa offered.

"No, you'll sleep now." Jake grabbed his pillow and blanket and settled them next to Nyssa's.

"What are you doing?" Nyssa demanded.

"Making sure you sleep."

"I'm not tired!"

"Neither am I, but I'm still going to bed."

"Jake!"

"What?"

"Go away! Let me work!"

"No."

"Well, then I'm not going to sleep."

"Oh?"

"I bet I could stay up all night. In fact, I'm going to! Even if it's just to prove a point."

"Alright, if you want to bet. If you fall asleep, then you have to do everything I say until we find Percy."

"If I stay up all night, you let me do anything I want to until we find Percy."

"Deal."

"Deal."

They shook hands, and then Nyssa flopped down on the bed, turning her back to Jake.

Leo turned the lights off, and Jake pulled the blanket over Nyssa's shoulders, tucking her in.

She squirmed away from him, but Jake grabbed her put an arm around her. He stroked her hair absently.

Jake could almost feel the tension leave Nyssa's shoulders as she began to relax, and she turned to face him, snuggling up to him.

Jake couldn't help but let a small smile creep onto his face as Nyssa's eyes drooped and she fell asleep. No matter how annoying she could be, no matter how much they fought, she was still his baby sister.

Plus, he won the bet.


	8. H

**H is for Hungry**

Everyone sat around the ping pong table, waiting for Chiron to show up. They were all hungry, because lunch was just about to begin when the meeting had been urgently called.

"What's taking Chiron so long?" Percy moaned, flopping back on his chair.

Annabeth shook her head. "I don't know. Hey, Will, do you see him?"

Will peered out the window before shaking his head. "Nope."

"I'm going to die if I don't get some food soon." Leo declared.

Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

"Hey, Clovis, wake up!" Butch called, seeing Connor's empty hand creep toward his pocket, where Butch knew was a stash of markers in case anyone fell asleep near him.

Clovis mumbled something and pushed his head onto the ping pong table, shielded from any stray markers.

The room grew quiet once more.

"Hey, babe." Travis tapped Katie's arm and gave her his signature smirk.

"Quit calling me that." She snapped. "Do I look like a baby to you?"

Travis tried to keep a straight face, as did everyone else in the room, but to no avail. Soon, they were all grinning and giggling.

Katie looked around irritably. "What?"

"Sorry, Katie." Thalia chuckled. "But, technically, besides Connor, you're the youngest one here."

Katie groaned in frustration and dropped her head on the ping pong table, mimicking Clovis.

Travis plopped down on the seat next to her and poked her in the arm. "Come on, _baby_, don't you have anything you want to say about your gardening, or our plants? While Chiron's busy, we may as well start the meeting."

Katie's response was to kick him sharply in the leg.

"Ow! Oh, Kit-Kat, don't be such a _baby_." Travis snickered, moving his leg to safer ground.

"Shut up." Came her halfhearted reply.

"Well, for the Athena cabin, Malcolm had this really good idea. We can't officially start it until Chiron approves, but if I give you the plan, I guess, you guys can start figuring out how to help." Annabeth decided, nodding at Travis for the idea.

She outlined the plan, and everyone nodded in agreement. While it may have not been the best the Athena cabin had ever come up with, it was certainly clever.

One by one, the rest of the group (excluding Katie, who was too embarrassed to speak,) explained their issues or their updates on their cabins, and then filed out for lunch eagerly.

A few minutes after Katie locked up and followed her friends down to the pavilion, Chiron trotted into view.

He stepped up to the door and unlocked it, blinking in confusion when he saw no one there.

"Didn't I ask them to meet me when lunch finished up?"


	9. I

**I is for Icicle**

There was no doubt about it. The gods were mad.

The camp was freezing, and the magical borders did nothing to keep out the icy wind and chilly frost. At the very least, the gods had enough mercy to keep the snow out, but that was it.

The first thing everyone did was send accusatory looks at Percy Jackson. When he held up his hands in surrender, explaining that he had no idea what was going on, and that the only god he had recently ticked off, humiliated, or outright disrespected lately was Dionysus, but he'd apologized.

Then all the heaters in every cabin broke.

At last, Chiron was forced to let the campers sleep in the Big House, which was the only place in the whole camp that was warm.

It was a cozy sight in the living room, with the crackling fire as high as it could go without burning the entire house down.

Percy and Annabeth were sitting on the only couch together, wrapped in a blanket, and Jason and Piper were leaning against the wall next to the fire. Frank and Hazel were stretched out in front of the fire. Leo, being Leo, was grinning at everyone from _inside_ the fireplace.

Everyone else was sitting or lying by people from their own cabin.

The door slammed shut, and everyone lazily looked up to see a shivering Katie Gardener enter the room.

"It's c-c-cold." She stuttered, moving toward the fire.

"Hey, baby." Travis yawned. "What were you doing outside?"

"Shut up." Katie's cheeks flamed red, because she knew Travis would provoke her into screaming at him in front of the entire camp.

"What _were_ you doing outside?" Will Solace asked curiously.

"Checking on my plants." Katie answered curtly.

Instantly, the room was filled with groans.

"Katie! It's negative seven degrees outside!" Percy cried.

"So?" Katie rolled her eyes. "It wasn't that bad."

"They're just plants, Katie. Gods, you're so stupid." Drew snapped.

Katie whipped her head around and glared at her. "What?"

"I _said_, you're so stupid. Now it looks like you're deaf, too. Who goes to save _plants_? They're just freaking _plants_!" Drew barked.

Katie's face turned a bright pink, which anyone intelligent knew was her way of trying very hard not to explode.

After counting to ten three times, she took a deep breath and turned to the Aphrodite nightmare. "Drew, I suggest you go back to painting your nails and leave me to my plants."

Drew smirked, obviously pleased that Katie was giving up. "That's alright, hon, no need to get jealous. We can't always be perfect. You're a strange case, though."

Katie didn't answer, and Drew took it as an invitation to begin speaking.

"I realize that spending all your time in those dumb fields doesn't give you much time to work on your nails – no wonder they're in horrendous condition – and of course, I suppose you can't get many fashion magazines to realize how you should dress. Still, one thing I don't understand is why your face is so ugly. I mean, with all that dirt, you think the mud pack you're in everyday would clear out the wrinkles, and pimples, and at the very least smooth out your hair, if not add a glow to your skin, but you're just plain ugly."

Katie gaped in shock. Had Drew just listed every single insecurity she had ever had about herself? Could she read minds or something?

But it was true, wasn't it? Katie took a second to muse over everything Drew had said. And suddenly, Drew was right. She was ugly. She was the foulest camper there was. Even the Ares girls were pretty compared to her! And it wasn't because she just didn't try to glop on make-up and wear the best clothing. It was because she was just grotesque.

Biting her lip to keep from crying, Katie pushed out of the shell shocked living room and out to her strawberry plants. They were the only thing that ever made her feel better these days.

As the door shut, the living room instantly came back to life.

Everyone rounded on Drew angrily, but she just fluttered her eyelashes indifferently.

No one noticed as the door creaked open and a slender figure slipped out, wearing a coat and holding a blanket in his hands.

Katie burst into tears as soon as she reached the lifeless strawberry field. Even as they froze on her red cheeks, she refused to listen to the little voice of reason in her mind, and stayed out.

As Drew's hauntingly sweet voice came back to taunt her, Katie buried her head in her heads and wept bitterly.

"Katie!" Someone shouted. "Katie Gardener!"

Katie lifted her head to see Travis Stoll enter the fields.

She bit her lip in desperation. Of all the people! Did the fates truly hate her?

"Katie Gardener, you get your butt here right now! It's freezing, and you're going to kill yourself!" Travis yelled at the top of his lungs.

Under his breath, as he continued to search for her, he added. "She's going to be in _so_ much trouble as soon as she's safe."

A moment later, a small whimper escaped Katie's mouth. The fates must have _really_ been against her that day, because the wind seemed to latch onto it and drift the noise over to Travis. He was by her hiding spot in an instant.

"Katie!" Relief colored his voice, and Katie's tearful eyes met his. Could it be possible that he was actually _concerned_?

"Come on!" Travis wrapped the big blanket around Katie's shoulders and lifted her up so that no part of her chilled body was exposed to the wind. She buried her face in his shirt and dissolved into tears once more.

"Shh, it's gonna be okay, Kit-Kat." Travis comforted absently. "Everyone's really mad at Drew."

Katie didn't answer. She didn't voice her thoughts, but she was dismayed that Travis Stoll had to be the one to see her reduced to…to this. Not to mention, he was CARRYING her back…back to her own personal Tartarus.

Quietly, she began to curse the fates, curse the gods, and curse her life.

As they walked, the wind began to let up a little. Soon, it was gone completely.

"Is it getting warmer?" Travis wondered incredulously.

Katie pulled herself away from Travis to look around.

She tentatively pulled her hand and held it out. A small, white object landed on it.

"Snow." She breathed.

"What's going on?" Travis asked.

Katie shook her head to signal her confusion.

"Let's just get back." Travis decided. He walked on, still staring fixedly at the sky.

Katie yawned, and sleepily resolved that she would apologize for making Travis carry her in the morning. Her eyes began to close of its own account.

They entered the living room, and Travis laid Katie by the fire, re-wrapping the blanket around her.

"She's sleeping." He quickly reassured everyone when he saw their horrified expressions.

"Travis?" Katie mumbled, not quite awake, not quite asleep.

"I'm here." Travis squeezed her hand in assurance.

"Am I dreaming?"

"No."

"Then why is Leo in the fire?"


	10. J

**J is for Jail**

"Persephone!" Hades called, his deep voice rolling around his castle and out the door to reach the ears of a lovely young woman stepping out of a ferry.

She turned and gave a small smile to the ferryman who had brought her to the doorstep of her husband's palace.

"Thank you, Charon." Hades handed the ferryman a few drachmas, and then took his wife by the arm. "Come, Persephone."

Persephone took one last glance at the ferry, and then steeled herself for the dim lights of the palace. It was dark in the Underworld, and although Persephone had begun to accept that it was home for the next six months, she still didn't appreciate the shadows.

"Nico is here." Hades quickly warned before Persephone could see him. No doubt about it, Persephone hated Nico di Angelo with all her heart. Often times, when she was brooding, she realized that she acted far too much like Hera when Zeus was off once again, but she was starting to understand why Hera was so grumpy all the time.

"I'll be in my quarters." Persephone coldly shook Hades' hand off of her arm and stalked away.

Nico was a painful reminder that Hades wasn't any better than what Demeter thought of him.

Persephone had always held hope that Hades wasn't a monster, but instead someone who just needed a little love, and would someday grow to love her, as well. She was wrong, just as Demeter had promised. Hades had given a mortal something that should have only been entrusted to her, and worst of all? He had the nerve too not only do it _twice_, but also bring in the brat and rub it in her face that she wasn't good enough! What more did he want from her? She always tried to be the best wife that anyone possibly could be!

Not paying attention, Persephone rammed into something.

"Oof!" She cried out. Hoping it was some skeleton that hadn't been paying attention so she could order it to do something; she glared down at whatever had fallen.

It wasn't a skeleton – not by a long shot.

"Nico." Her lip curled in distaste.

"Oh, hi, Persephone." Nico groaned slightly, pulling himself up.

"What are you doing here?" Persephone growled.

Nico shrugged. "I thought I'd pay you and Dad a visit."

"Nico. _What_ do you want?" Persephone snapped. She knew that with men, it was never 'dropping by for a visit.' "And what does it have to do with me?"

"How do you know it has something to do with you?" Nico countered.

"Because you wouldn't be wasting my time like this if it didn't." Persephone sighed. Nico could be such an idiot. Did he really think she didn't know?

Nico slumped in defeat, and then looked around cautiously, in case any spies happened to be around. "I need your help."

"What makes you think I'll help you?" Persephone snorted.

"Please, Persephone!" Nico begged. "It's really important!"

"Why don't you just ask Hades? I'm sure he'll be happy to help his no-good _son_ with his homework." Persephone shot out. She wasn't exactly sure why she was still hanging around, or why she hadn't already turned Nico into some kind of flower, but she forged on anyway.

Nico looked around desperately. "No, I can't ask Dad. He'd never let me."

Nico didn't notice as Persephone winced when he called her husband "Dad."

"Nico, enough dill-dallying. I have better things to do then argue with you." She ground out in exasperation, turning to go.

"I have to go to the Doors of Death." Nico breathed.

Time seemed to slow down as Persephone froze. She whirled back around and stared at Nico, hoping that he'd do one of those stupid "PSYCH!" thingies that Apollo was so fond of.

Nothing happened.

"What?" She finally hissed.

"I have to find the Doors of Death and try to close them." Nico whispered.

Persephone's heart seemed to stop as her mind processed exactly what Nico was saying.

She looked at him incomprehensibly, and he jumped into action, immediately blurting out everything from happening upon Camp Jupiter too realizing that the only way to save everybody was through the Doors of Death.

Persephone looked at him in horror. At last, her brain started to work again and her mouth began to move.

"How do you know I won't tell Hades?"

Nico's eyes grew big. "You can't! He'll never let me go, and I have to! This is the only way I could possibly help save Percy and Annabeth. And the other demigods. I have to do this."

"Why do you think I'll let you go?" Persephone scowled.

"Because you don't care what happens to me."

One sentence. That one single sentence, said so simply, so casually and uncaring, unfeeling, threw Persephone's entire belief system into turmoil.

Persephone's mouth opened, and then closed again.

"Will you help me?" Nico asked.

And Persephone practically begged the gods to give her the power to say no.

"Fine." She spat out. What was happening to her? When had she become so uncaring?

Nico followed her out to her garden.

"I cannot tell you where to find the Doors of Death. I don't know myself. However, I can do something for you." She picked some pomegranate seeds from her garden and handed them to him. He glared back at her suspiciously.

"Those seeds, eaten in the Underworld, will keep you here forever. However, eaten outside of the Underworld, they will protect you. You can eat them in dire situations." Persephone instructed. She watched as he placed them in a bag next to some ambrosia and nectar.

"Thanks, Persephone." He murmured. Turning, and without a second glance, he began his journey to search for the most dangerous doors that Persephone had ever heard of.

"Nico! Wait!" Persephone called out. He spun back towards her.

Suddenly, she was no longer the cold Persephone that she had been for so long. She ran across the lawn and threw her arms around the young man. He wasn't as much as a young man as he was a scared little boy who lost his family.

"I-I do care for you." She whispered into his ear as he stiffened at the unexpected show of affection. "Come back home, Nico, and I promise I'll be a better stepmother."

Nico flung his arms around her and hugged her tightly; clinging on to the only parental contact he'd had in such a long time. He clutched onto her as though she were his lifeline.

"I'll be a better stepson, too." He finally replied.

Persephone let go, and Nico waved good bye. He hurried away as if he were afraid he would change his mind if he didn't.

"Be careful." Persephone whispered, and a stray breeze lifted up her words and carried them to Nico's ears. He didn't turn around, but they both knew he'd heard.

Persephone watched him as he crossed the Underworld, and her insides began to melt as she realized that she had probably just sent him on a death journey. What was happening to her?

For once, she wished that she wasn't trapped in the Underworld, in Hades' castle not because she wanted to get away from Hades, or for her own selfish reasons, but because a little boy was about to do something huge. And she wanted to keep him from getting hurt again.

Persephone turned and headed back to her jail. It was time a father knew just exactly what his son was planning. She hadn't sworn on the Styx, now had she?


	11. K

**K is for Kidnapped**

It was evening at Camp Jupiter, and several demigods sat around in a circle in a living room. A fire roared and crackled in the fireplace, and lots of food and sodas were being passed around.

Thalia, Jason, Reyna, Leo, Piper, Hazel, Hylla, Frank, Annabeth, and Nico were all relaxing lazily, telling each other stories, and just generally enjoying the peace and quiet after the war.

"No way!" Hazel squeaked as Thalia got done describing how Percy had looked and acted after Annabeth had been kidnapped and how annoyed Zoe had been.

"So, that's our inside joke with the dam food, and stuff." Thalia concluded in giggles.

None of them could contain their laughter for much longer.

"He seriously thought that it was a Feast of _Tuna_?" Jason choked out.

"Unfortunately." Reyna shook her head in amusement.

"And he asked me why I hated men." Hylla added in. "I couldn't answer back, I was too busy laughing."

Annabeth stood up and stretched, cheeks tinted pink from laughing so hard. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Yeah, shouldn't he be here by now?" Leo pulled himself up.

Annabeth glanced outside, and then shrugged. "He told me he'd be in by eleven – what time is it?"

"Eleven thirty." Piper answered.

"He should be here soon." Hazel warned. "We'd better wipe the smiles off of our faces."

"That's for sure. He'd be so upset if he learned we were laughing about him." Frank agreed.

"Such a drama queen, that one is." Thalia sighed in mock annoyance. "Did I ever tell you about the time Lady Persephone asked Nico, Percy and me too help get a weapon from a traitor who had stolen it?"

As she pitched off into another story, Annabeth stepped outside and glanced around. Her senses were tingling. Something was wrong.

"It's not like Percy to be this late." Nico spoke up at eleven fifty-five, after the laughter had died down.

"You don't think…you don't think Hera might've taken him again, do you?" Hazel asked in a hushed whisper, voicing all their thoughts.

"But why? And so soon after the war?" Reyna doubted. "Not to mention, I don't see any new recruits that might be sent in replacement."

"Plus, I don't think there are any rumors about other camps, right?" Jason added.

"Yeah, there were always rumors about Greek and Roman camps, but other than that…" Nico trailed off.

"Maybe he got held up?" Piper suggested.

"Doing what?" Annabeth wondered. "Carrying hippie bag ladies who turn out to be goddesses?"

They each held their composure for about thirty seconds, but Frank was the first to go.

Annabeth rolled over and saw Hazel slowly shift away from the fire. _Right, Frank's stick,_ she reminded herself.

"Well, he is a man. They are bound to be late on occasion." Hylla shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leo asked in mock outrage.

Thalia kicked him lightly with her right foot. "It means you men couldn't get anywhere on time. It's a wonder you even get to places in the first place, what without asking for directions all the time."

"That's such a stereotype." Nico wrinkled his nose. "I ask directions."

"Yeah, so do I!" Frank nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Jason agreed.

Everyone turned to look at Leo, who was playing with something in his pocket.

"What?" He demanded, when he finally noticed everyone looking at him.

"Nothing, Leo." Hazel sighed. "You and your ADHD."

Everyone relaxed, and soon slumber overcame them.

Annabeth woke up blinking. Where was she?

The events of last night came tumbling back to her, and she leaped up, looking for Percy.

Thalia started at the sudden movement, and soon all of the demigods were awake.

"Where's Percy?" Annabeth hissed.

"He didn't come back?" Piper yawned.

Annabeth shook her head, and instantly, everyone was awake.

Jason cursed in Latin. "Juno must've kidnapped him again!"

"We don't know it was Queen Juno." Reyna reasoned, but she was running her hands through her hair in panic, too.

"Everyone, go outside and search. Maybe he's at his bunk, or maybe he left early to practice sword fighting or something." Hylla ordered.

They did as she told, calming themselves down. He had to be somewhere. He couldn't have just disappeared overnight again.

They regrouped around lunchtime, but no one had found him.

"Oh gods, oh gods." Annabeth was starting to go back into full panic mode. Not again! This nightmare couldn't be happening again!

Reyna was speaking to Gwen, who looked just as freaked out as she was.

"Push Octavian's meeting back for another day!" Reyna shouted. "I can't deal with him right now."

"I'll try, but it's not easy without Percy to back me up." Gwen explained innocently, not realizing that Percy was the whole reason Reyna was going crazy.

"I'm going to gut that boy as soon as we find him." Annabeth glared at the couch as though it was the thing that had devoured her boyfriend.

"I'll help!" Reyna offered.

"I'd better go call Chiron." Leo decided. "Tell Camp Half-Blood, and all."

"I'll get the Hunters ready to go search again." Thalia sighed.

"I'll rally the Amazons." Hylla nodded.

"I'll get the Romans ready." Jason squared his shoulders.

"I'll go tell the Cyclopes." Frank offered. "Tyson would want to know."

"I'll ask any ghosts and Lars and stuff." Nico agreed.

"I'll get the nymphs, fawns, satyrs, and naiads." Piper added.

"I'll go call his mom and Paul." Annabeth said.

As they each turned to go, the door slammed open, and Percy Jackson walked in. He grinned at all of them and casually sat down on the couch.

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"

"PERSEUS JACKSON! WHERE WERE YOU? DO YOU NOT REALIZE HOW WORRIED I WAS? WHY DIDN'T YOU COME WHEN YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO? WHERE WERE YOU?" Annabeth launched into a tirade, but stopped herself so Percy could answer a couple of her questions.

"I'm sorry I worried you all, but you won't believe what happened to me." Percy held up his hands in both surrender and peace.

"We live in a world of both Greek and Roman gods. What were you saying again?" Nico pointed out.

"Well, it all started last night, when I was talking with Octavian. I was walking back when I was kidnapped by aliens who were demanding me to rescue the Martian queen because I had the mark that was in all their books of prophecy and stuff or whatever. I think it was just because I smelled like hot dogs. They seemed to like hot dogs…oh, yeah, anyway. So, while I was busy being kidnapped…"


	12. L

**L is for Lemons**

"Do we have to do this?" Leo complained as they walked.

"Yes, Leo. You're not getting out of it." Piper sighed. She felt Jason squeeze her hand gently.

"Why, why, why do we have to do this?" Leo grumbled. He kicked a rock out of his way and a bird flew out of a tree they passed.

"Leo, please stop frightening the wildlife." Jason scolded mildly.

"Dude. Why do we, of all the people at camp, have to fight a bunch of crazy bird-ladies?"

"They're called _furies_, Leo." Piper corrected. "And we're not fighting them. We're going to sign an agreement with them so that we can get in and out of the Underworld without a problem, at least for a little while."

"Until we die." Leo mumbled. "I still don't get why Nico couldn't have done this. You know, being the kid of Hades and all that."

"It's not so bad. It's not like they want to kill us on sight or anything, like most monsters." Jason reminded him. "Besides, we have to help Percy and Annabeth."

The entire world seemed to shiver at the mention of their names. The trio walked on in silence for a few moments, reflecting on what might possibly be the only way to save Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from the depths of Tartarus.

"We're almost there." Jason told them, pulling them out of their thoughts.

"Well, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right?" Piper voiced, trying to lift their spirits a little.

"No! When life gives you lemons, you make grape juice and watch life wonder how you did it! Get your facts straight, Piper." Leo replied.


	13. M

**M is for Mom**

"Mom!" Percy shouted. He dashed into his apartment, excitement shining on his face. "MOM!"

"Shut up." Smelly Gabe sneered. A couple of his poker buddies shot Percy a sympathetic look, but the others remained stone-faced.

"Where's Mommy?" Percy asked. He gritted his teeth, refusing to let anything – even Smelly Gabe – get in the way of his happiness.

"She's at work. Somebody's got to pay the bills, and it's obviously not going to be you." Smelly Gabe replied. Carelessly, he bit into a piece of pizza, and some cheese dripped onto his already brown T-shirt.

"Oh." Percy frowned. He wanted nothing more than to screaming to his mother, but she wasn't around. She was almost never around when he wanted her to be, but little Percy didn't hold that against her. She wasn't Superman, and Smelly Gabe was making her work.

She was like Cinderella, Percy realized. He only wished that his Daddy would come back and make her a princess. She always had a smile whenever she thought about him, so maybe his dad was a king! Cool! And then Percy and his mom would live happily ever after, and laugh in Smelly Gabe's smelly face.

"What's the matter, kid?" One of the other poker players took pity on him. "What do you need?"

Percy grinned, although a little surprised. He held up a piece of paper. It had one gold star on it, and a large "A+!" written in cursive writing. "I got an A+ in school today! My teacher showed the paper to everyone in class and said it was the best!"

He thought he would practically burst with happiness and pride.

"Really?" Smelly Gabe frowned. "Let me see that paper."

Percy handed it to him. He didn't see the trap until it was too late.

Smelly Gabe laughed as he ripped it in half, and then dropped the paper into his pizza.

"NO!" Percy shouted. "No!"

"Get used to it, brat." Smelly Gabe mocked. "This is just pre-school. Wait until you get to middle school. There, they rip up all stupid papers, just like this one. They'll probably start doing it in elementary school, too, just because you can't do anything worth saving the paper."

Later, Percy would say that he didn't know what happened. His vision got cloudy, a hot red anger spurt through him. When his sight cleared again, Smelly Gabe and all his friends were soaking wet!

Percy was the only dry spot in the entire room. The kitchen pipes and the water pipes in the apartment above theirs had "spontaneously burst," the repairman had later said, scratching his head in confusion.

Percy said nothing, but as the two pieces of his report on the life under the sea floated back to him, he gingerly picked them up. His Mommy would dry them out and tape them together, he knew. And then she would kiss him and tell him that he was the best student in that entire school, and it wasn't because he got the best grades.

She was the best mom in the entire world.


	14. N

**N is for Nuisance**

"Nyssa, come on." Leo called inside the cabin where his sister was hastily fixing her model for the Argo II. It had gotten broken somehow, and one of the Hecate campers needed it finished by tomorrow so that they could start working on how to enchant the real thing.

"I'm coming, just a sec." She called back.

"It's been way more than a sec. It's been ten minutes!" Leo grumbled.

"Go ahead without me." Nyssa waved him away.

"Fine, if you're not coming." He waited another moment, before bouncing away.

_Finally_, she thought. _Peace and quiet._

She focused her attention back on the model. She needed to be super careful with the engine, because that was one of the more delicate parts of the model.

"Nyssa!" Someone snapped behind her.

Startled, she dropped the engine.

A very annoyed Jake was glaring at her from the door.

"_Jake_! You made me drop my model engine for the Argo II model." Nyssa snapped, feeling her patience level hit the floor.

"I don't care. Dinner's almost done, and tonight we promised Chiron that our _entire_ cabin would be at the campfire." Jake said stubbornly.

"I'll come to the campfire! I just have to finish this." Nyssa growled.

"You'll come to dinner, _now_." Jake ordered. "Stop playing with that thing."

"Would you quit telling me what to do? I am not playing with it! I'm fixing it." Nyssa snatched up a screwdriver from the table.

"Nyssa, you can fix it later." Jake compromised. "But you have to eat something. You skipped breakfast and lunch today, too."

"I did?" Nyssa stopped momentarily to think back. "Oh, I guess I did. Oh well. One day of not eating isn't going to hurt me."

"Yes it is!"

"The Aphrodite campers do it all the time." Nyssa pointed out.

"Nyssa, remember a while ago, when you wouldn't go to sleep because you were pouring over blueprints?" Jake suddenly changed the topic.

"Uh…oh yeah." Nyssa nodded.

"We made a bet that day." He prodded.

"Hades." Nyssa grumbled under her breath.

"That's right. You're going to _put that stupid thing away now_, and come out. You're going to eat dinner and have a good time at the campfire." Jake stepped back, grinning widely, as Nyssa slammed the engine on the table and stood up, way too hard. The chair fell backward as she stormed out the door, Jake following her triumphantly.

"You're such a nuisance." Nyssa grumbled under her breath.


	15. O

**O is for Oracle**

Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was the oracle; the first living one in a long, long time.

She wasn't allowed to love. Still, she supposed, oracles probably weren't supposed to go to a finishing school, either. They probably weren't supposed to be rich, art-lovers. They weren't supposed to want to help save the world, one little bunny at a time. They weren't supposed to be a lot of things that Rachel was.

Did she doubt her abilities? Big time. All the time. It sucked, because then she would get scared that she wasn't right for the job, she was the wrong person. Then she got sick. She figured it was Apollo up there, telling her to shut up because his special project would never pick the wrong person. Nevertheless, she doubted.

Once, she'd had the closest call that left her shaking even years after she'd had it. Two demigods, Clarisse La Rue and Chris Rodriguez, had come by to say hi. Clarisse had mentioned something about going on some quest for her dad or something, and Rachel had felt the spirit getting geared up to hijack her, in front of hundreds of Clarion snotty rich girls.

Luckily, Clarisse had noticed and managed to pull Rachel into a bathroom.

"_The sons will stir as a quest is foretold_

_For the daughter of a god so bold_

_They will try to harm and steal the light_

_The daughter to be saved by a hero in his right."_

They had both been fairly shaken up by the experience, but Rachel had made it this far without dying. There was hope for the new, modern oracle yet.


	16. P

**P is for Proposal**

Frank smiled at Hazel as she continued to feed Arion. Truth be told, he was still scared-silly of that horse, but they had reached an agreement. Arion wouldn't scare Frank on purpose, and Frank wouldn't tie up all of Hazel's time to she didn't have time to feed and play with him.

"Frank, is it okay if I go riding on Arion?" Hazel asked, turning to him. "I'd like to visit Camp Half-Blood."

If Hazel pleaded, Frank couldn't say no. "Do you want to go alone?"

"I have Arion with me." Hazel patted the horse.

"Yes, but I mean – you're great company, Arion – but, do you want _humans_ with you?" Frank smiled a little at Arion's indignant neigh.

"Are you offering?" Hazel looked surprised. Of course, Frank was usually the last person to offer to go on Arion, so that wasn't too offensive.

"I haven't seen Camp Half-Blood in forever anyway." Frank shrugged nonchalantly. "Only if you're okay with it, of course. If you want me to scoot so you can have alone time, just say it."

"I'd love to have you with me!" Hazel grinned. She didn't know exactly what had caused her boyfriend's change of heart, but she wasn't going to complain any time soon.

Frank settled his arms around Hazel and shut his eyes. As usual, Arion sprinted, and a wave of nausea passed through him as they sped across the countryside, and then past cities and towns.

"Frank," Hazel said gently as Arion slowed down. "We're here."

Frank sighed in relief, carefully climbing down. "Thank the gods."

Hazel laughed and jumped down next to him.

"Let's go." He took her hand.

Annabeth was the only one waiting for them. She sent them a small smile and pointed down at the beach. "You'll get more privacy there." She whispered, and then disappeared down to the campfire.

Hazel looked at Frank in confusion. "What was that about?"

Frank shrugged. "I have no idea, but we better do as she says."

"Or she'll sic Percy on us." Hazel snickered.

"Not even. That chick is scarier than Percy is." Frank snorted.

The couple walked down to the beach hand-in-hand.

"Want to sit on the sand?" Hazel asked hopefully.

"Sure!" Frank nodded.

They cuddled in the sand, staying that way for a while, watching the sun set over the sea, as the sky was highlighted in beautiful shades of pink, purple, red, gold, and blue. Hazel watched the scene with an artist's eye, wondering how she could capture the beauty of the sight on paper.

After a moment, Frank cleared his throat.

"Hazel, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure." She lazily looked up at him.

"You know that you're the most beautiful person on this planet, brave, and kind, and just plain awesome, right?" Frank blurted out.

"Frank, are you okay?" Hazel sat up, looking at him in concern.

Frank cursed himself silently. He needed to stop tripping over his words. "I'm fine."

He took a deep breath. "I just wanted to say, that you're the best person in the world. You're beautiful, and kind, and caring, and so smart. You're brave, and powerful. I want to be with you for my whole life, which, and let's be honest here, isn't going to be very long."

Hazel gasped and stood up abruptly, putting a hand over her mouth. "Frank, are you – is this…" she trailed off.

Frank got on one knee and pulled a small, velvet box from his pocket. "Hazel Levesque, will you marry me?"

Hazel squealed and threw her arms around him. "Yes! Of course I will! Oh, Frank!"

Gods of Olympus, she's beautiful. Frank thought as he slipped the silver ring around her finger. He was pretty sure she wouldn't really appreciate having it decorated with jewels, considering that she used to be able to pull out cursed ones from all over the ground.

And he was right. They held each other and watched the sun sink into the ground, until the starry night appeared, and the harpies chased them away.

As Frank slid onto Arion and held his fiancée close, he couldn't believe his luck. For once, what he wanted – his proposal – had gone off without a hitch.


	17. Q

**Q is for Quest**

"_Head out east, where you will see the thing you want most_

_Give in to temptation, or become another ghost_

_A life you might have had will be snatched right away_

_And another candle of hope put back in its place."_

"What?" Piper blinked as Annabeth tended to Rachel, who had collapsed after giving her prophecy.

"Prophecies aren't supposed to make sense, Piper." Jason reminded her. He looked troubled, trying to puzzle it out himself.

Unwillingly, Piper's mind traveled back to a long time ago, when her father had been kidnapped by a giant. This couldn't mean her father was in trouble again, could it?

"You're dad's fine, Piper." Coach Hedge assured her. "I just talked to him yesterday."

Piper smiled, but her mind rebelled. _A lot can happen between yesterday and today. _It insisted.

"Come on." Jason took her hand and pulled her out the door. "Let's go get Leo and figure this out before we leave."

"It's weird that there's no deadline on this quest." Piper commented.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Jason stopped. He turned to Piper nervously.

Piper looked at him, afraid. Almost every bad thing that had ever happened was crashing down on her. This was it. He was going to break up with her, wasn't he?

"Piper, you're amazing. I mean, I don't know anyone else who's so beautiful, who can charmspeak, who has saved my life so many times I can't even count that high, who's so smart, who's just so perfect. You're the best girlfriend a guy could ever get."

Piper bit her lip in confusion. If he was breaking up with her, why was he complimenting her? Did he just want to cushion the blow a little?

"I know that we're demigods, and we probably won't survive very long, so I want to do this before something irreversible happens." Jason dropped down onto one knee.

Piper's mind and heart all stopped at one moment. Jason wasn't breaking up with her. He was _proposing_ to her.

"Oh my gods." She whispered.

"Piper, will you do me the honor of being my lawfully wedded wife?"

She shrieked and attacked his with a hug, even before he could slip the lovely ruby ring on her finger.

"Yes! Yes! YES!"

At that moment, it didn't matter that all the Aphrodite campers were squealing in joy, or that Drew's face turned a bright purple. It didn't matter that Chiron came running outside with Percy and Annabeth in a panic because they thought that camp was being attacked from all the noise. It didn't matter that Leo was bragging about them to everyone. It didn't matter that they were only sixteen. It didn't even matter that they were on a quest!

They were finally together, and that's all that mattered.


	18. R

**R is for Ridicule **

Nyssa stepped out of the cabin bathroom dressed in something other than an orange T-shirt and jeans. Everyone messing around immediately stopped and stared at her.

She was wearing a lovely dark purple dress. It was a simple and modest dress that went just past her knees. The top had a fancy design that folded around her shoulders and tucked away, so that the entire dress neatly complemented the young girl wearing it. She was also wearing matching slippers, and holding a small hand purse the same color.

Nyssa's dark hair was actually curled, and fell neatly around her face, framing it. She was wearing a little bit of make-up, not enough to draw too much attention to her face, but just enough to get noticed.

"Where are you going without a spot of oil on you?" Leo whistled impressed.

Nyssa frowned and looked down at herself, as though she hadn't realized she was wearing anything different. "Nowhere."

"Oh, come on. You don't just dress up like _that_ for nothing." Jason spoke up. He and Piper had come in to speak with Leo for a moment.

"It's nothing." Nyssa insisted. She self-consciously glanced back her dress again, though.

"It's a date, isn't it?" Piper grinned.

Nyssa shot her a look.

"Sorry, I'm an Aphrodite girl. I can tell these kinds of things." Piper shrugged.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Leo pressed. He glanced around for Jake, the remembered that Jake was on a quest with Lou Ellen from the Hecate cabin and Mitchell from the Aphrodite cabin. It looked like being the protective older brother was up to him.

"It's no one. Nothing." Nyssa snapped through gritted teeth.

"It's Will Solace from the Apollo cabin, isn't it?" Piper guessed. One look at Nyssa's face was enough to know that she'd guessed right.

"He'll be here any second." Nyssa slumped down desperately. "_Please_ go away."

"You have something on your dress!" Piper suddenly gasped.

Nyssa dashed into the bathroom, trying to find it. "Where is it?"

Piper shot Leo a meaningful look, hurrying into the bathroom to help Nyssa find the "thing" that wasn't there.

A knock sounded on the door.

Leo hurriedly stuffed his wrench into his tool belt and slipped outside.

"Hey, Will." He greeted.

Will was wearing a suit. Enough said.

"Is Nyssa here?" Will asked. He smoothed out his dress pants nervously.

"She's not ready yet, but she'll be out in a sec." Leo answered honestly.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment.

"Listen, Will, you're a nice guy. I trust you, that's for sure. Just…don't hurt my sister. Okay? I'd really hate to have to get you back. And I promise, I may not look like much, but I think pretty quickly off the top of my head, and it won't take that much to make fun of you in public." Leo met Will's eyes solidly, not backing down.

"I'd never hurt Nyssa." Will said, just as firmly.

"Didn't say you would. Take good care of her Will. Who knows, someday I might be able to call you 'bro' and actually mean it." Leo grinned, fist bumping the Apollo camper.

Will grinned back. "That would be pretty cool. Of course, that's all assuming the first date goes well."

"I'll go get your date. She's probably freaking out. Someone told her there was something on her dress."

"Wait, she doesn't know you came out here?"

"Nope, and I'd prefer it if she didn't ever."

Will nodded in understanding, so Leo slid back inside.

"Nyssa!" He called. "Your date's here."

She swore softly and rushed out of the bathroom. "Do I look okay?"

"You look great." Leo answered honestly.

Nyssa took a deep breath and pushed the door open. A soft smile slid on her face as she saw Will standing there.

She waved good-bye, and then disappeared out the door.

"What did you tell Will?" Piper demanded the second they were out of hearing range.

"Don't cross Nyssa or I'll ridicule you until you cry." Leo shrugged, back to playing with his wrench.

"LEO!"


	19. S

**S is for Snowflake**

Travis smirked as Katie Gardner fell in the snow, for the hundredth time.

She glared at him, but stood up and dusted herself off again.

"I told you, you have to learn how to avoid the icy parts." He reminded her.

"And I told you I'd rather fall and hurt myself then take lessons from you." Katie answered. She took another step, but her foot slipped from beneath her and she started to fall.

Travis grabbed her hand and steadied her.

"Thanks." She mumbled.

"Oh, come on, Katie. We don't know how long this snow and cold weather is going to last. You might as well learn how skate." Travis reasoned.

"I don't like skating! I don't like the cold, either." Katie refused.

"You've never been skating. How could you hate something that you've never tried? Besides, it might save your life someday." Travis added.

"How would skating help save my life someday?" Katie snorted.

"A monster might be chasing you, and to get away from it, you might have to skate across a pond." Travis said.

Katie made a face. "No."

She pulled her hand out of Travis's but again slipped and fell.

Travis shook his head as she pulled herself up. He grabbed her hand and started tugging her along with him, ignoring her protests.

"I can walk by myself!" She muttered, but she made no move to let go. It was easier than tripping every two steps. At least Travis managed to find pathways in the snow that didn't have any ice on them.

The dining pavilion was filled with campers. Everyone was talking with each other and generally having a good time. Katie sighed in relief when she realized that she could take off her bulky winter coat and gloves. They weren't even hers. The coat belonged to Percy, who'd lived in New York his entire life and had extras just in case things like this happened. It helped to be prepared. The gloves were Lily's. She'd used them for gardening when she was younger, but now the thick gloves made perfect shelter for freezing hands.

Katie let go of Travis's hand and headed toward her table. Miranda was holding a cup of steaming hot chocolate, and Zeus knew Katie wanted some.

She got her own cup, and pretty soon relaxed in the warmth of the room.

"Hey, everyone, can I please have your attention?" Percy Jackson shouted. Everyone grew quiet, waiting for him to make his announcement.

"Chiron wanted me to tell you guys that the gods have decided to, um – what did he say? Oh yeah. 'Gift us for our patience,' or something. By the lake, there's a bunch of skates, and the lake has frozen over good and solid, so we can take the week off and go skating!"

Cheers erupted around the room, except from one person. She stole a glance at a certain Stoll who was making his way toward her table and grinning as though Christmas was about to arrive early.

"Now you've got to learn how to skate, Kit-Kat." Travis beamed, elbowing his way up to her.

Katie stuck out her tongue at him. "I don't have to do anything I don't want to."

"Ah, but you _want_ to skate. You're just afraid." Travis guessed correctly.

"That's stupid. First of all, I'm not afraid of anything. Second of all, I _don't_ want to skate. Third of all, is that your brother kissing Lou Ellen underneath the mistletoe?"

"What?" Travis turned around, and Katie quickly used the distraction to escape.

Fortunately, she managed to get outside before the crowd.

Unfortunately, Travis was faster than she was. He was in front of her, arms crossed in front of his chest, before she could decide which way she wanted to go.

"Move it, Travis!" Katie tried to push past him, only to end up on the ground again.

"Katie, dearest, everyone's afraid of something." He smirked and helped her up. "And I know what you're afraid of."

"Shut up!" She glared at him and stomped away.

"You're afraid that you're going to fall and look stupid in front of other people on the ice." Travis called to her.

"No I'm not!" Katie huffed in frustration.

"You're also afraid that you're going to get seriously hurt while skating – something ambrosia and nectar can't fix." Travis continued.

"I am not!" Her voice sounded weak, even to her own ears.

"And…"

"FINE! I'll go skating with you!" Katie shouted. She turned around and marched down to the lake.

She could almost hear Travis chuckling behind her.

They reached the lake, where practically camper was. Percy and Annabeth were skating together, almost slow dancing. From somewhere, Leo was blasting music, and tons of campers were dancing while skating. There was a part of the lake that was unofficially sectioned off for campers who couldn't/weren't very good at skating, but no one was there.

Katie froze. She could almost feel all eyes on her, just waiting for her to fall as soon as she hit the ice.

"I won't let you fall." Travis said into her ear.

She glared at him. "This is stupid. I'm going to back to my cabin."

"Katie, I swear on the River Styx, if you fall, I won't ever bug you to come skating again." Travis promised. Thunder grumbled in the distance.

Katie frowned. Who kidnapped the real Travis? He would never have done something like that without a price from her end.

"How about a bet? If you don't fall, you have to come skating whenever I want you to." Oh, here came the real Travis. "Unless you're too scared, of course."

"I swear on the River Styx, if I don't fall, I'll go skating with you whenever you want." Katie mumbled. She was confident enough that she would fail.

Travis shook his head. "Come on, Kit-Kat."

"Don't call me that." Katie followed him over to a bench, where a few people sat, talking.

"Would you like some skates?" Grover Underwood asked. Beside him, Nico and Thalia looked like they were arguing about something. Jason was siding with Thalia, and Hazel was backing Nico.

"Yes please." Travis expertly ignored the brewing argument.

Grover motioned for a few skates thrown carelessly on the ground, and Travis quickly went through them. "What size do you wear?"

"Four." Katie answered. She bit her bottom lip nervously. The more she thought about it, the more this was sounding like a really, really bad idea.

Travis pulled his own skates on, and then pushed her onto the bench in between Nico and Thalia.

"Sorry." She mumbled, trying to get up.

"Hold still, Kates. Let me get your skates on!" Travis tugged at her boots to pull the off.

Katie must've looked mortified, because Thalia patted her arm, forgetting her disagreement with Nico. "It's okay. Jason didn't know how to put on skates, either,

"Gods, your feet are small!" Travis exclaimed, lacing on her left skate. A moment later, her right one was done, too.

"Okay, let's go." He held out his hand.

"Travis? Teaching Katie how to skate? This I've got to see." Nico joked.

"Don't be rude." Thalia snapped, pulling the two of them back into their quarrel.

Katie clutched Travis's hand tightly as she walked.

"Okay, I'm going to get onto the ice now." Travis told her. Gently, he eased onto the ice.

"Come on."

Carefully, Katie put one skate onto the ice, and then the other.

Squealing, she grabbed onto Travis to keep her balance.

"There you go." Travis encouraged. After she could stand on the ice (holding onto him tightly,) he slid backward.

It was just a small step, but Katie let out another terrified whimper.

"Katie, I'm right here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay?" Travis soothed. "Here, try this. Close your eyes. Just trust me."

Katie shot him a look, but quickly realized that she didn't really have any other choice. "Okay."

After making sure her eyes were securely closed, Travis moved backward just a little bit.

"Can you hear me?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered.

"Okay. I want you to just relax. We're not going anywhere."

"I'm relaxed."

"Good. Now, take you right leg and move it forward. Just a little bit…there you go! Now do the same with your other leg."

Katie's eyes flew open as she moved forward.

"You did it!" Travis cheered. "Told you, you could!"

Katie looked down at her feet, her mouth slightly open. They had been at the edge of the lake – how had they gotten to the middle?

"We're going to do it again." Travis informed her. "Close your eyes, relax, and take a sliding step."

Katie did as he said, and took another step forward, and then another.

"See? You're doing it!" Travis grinned. Katie opened her eyes to see that they had done an entire lap around the lake. "Do you want to skate on your own now?"

"No! Don't let me go!" Katie begged, clinging onto his arms like a toddler.

"Okay, okay, I won't." Travis laughed in surrender. "Let's do another lap."

Katie nodded energetically. She did want to do another lap. It was so weird, and she'd _never_ tell this to him, but she felt like she could do anything when Travis was holding her.

They skated until Chiron came out and told everyone that if they didn't get to bed, the harpies would come out. Travis helped her pull off her skates, and then put her boots back on.

"It's almost four o'clock in the morning." Katie said in amazement. "No wonder I'm so tired."

Travis slipped his hand into hers and started down for her cabin. "This way, you won't fall on your way home."

Katie rolled her eyes, but she didn't complain.

"You know, you didn't fall once when you were on that lake." Travis told her.

She grinned proudly, and then frowned when she realized what he was talking about.

"Feel like skating tomorrow?" Travis asked, although it really wasn't a question. She couldn't say no if she wanted to. Not that she wanted to. Although, she'd have to put up a good show. Wouldn't want Travis to think she actually _liked_ it.


	20. T

**T is for Terror**

Athena stretched out on her big, soft bed, waiting for sleep to claim her. The gods had to go through so many meetings after the recent Titan war that Zeus had just suggested they all stay on Mt. Olympus until the entire hubbub died down.

Athena personally preferred her own apartment nearby the largest library in America, but the temporary room set up for her was nice, too. It had a large, soft bed and a fireplace on the other side. Bookshelves lined the walls, and a sturdy desk stood at attention near the bed, in case she wanted to write or do something there.

She sat up and impatiently pushed her hair out of her face. Why wasn't sleep coming?

A small scuttle caught her concentration, and panic seized her throat. It couldn't be a spider…it couldn't! Why had Athena changed Arachne into a spider, of all things? At the time, Athena had thought it was a good idea to change her rival into something that she herself hated. Overtime, however, her hatred of the small, creepy arachnid turned into an overwhelming fear, that also was instilled into her children.

Athena groaned and sat up. The fireplace flared at her command, and she carefully scrutinized every inch of the room. No spiders.

Flopping back onto her bed, she pulled the blankets up and wrestled around for a comfortable position.

Another scurry made Athena sit back up. It wasn't a spider, she told herself.

Another click-clack, and then more. Finally, just to satisfy her curiosity, Athena started the fire up again.

What she saw in the dim light made her scream louder than Aphrodite when her favorite lip gloss was used up.

Spiders! Everywhere! The tiny black creatures surrounded the bed, scurrying across the floor. A few had started making webs on her bookshelves. They would swarm onto the bed soon, if they needed more space.

_This fear is irrational._ Athena scolded herself. _You created them._

It didn't help, and Athena found herself pressed up against the back of her bed.

"HELP! HELP! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Athena finally screamed. The loud shouts of terror didn't go anywhere, mostly because most of the other gods had sound-proofed their rooms before going to bed.

Fear paralyzed both Athena's mind and body. She didn't think at all, and didn't realize how simple it would be to just reveal her true form, or at least blink out somewhere safer.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH!"

Suddenly, the door flew open. The spiders stopped for a moment, waiting to see who this new meat was.

Water filled the room, carrying the spiders away as quickly as possible. A hole in the floor opened up, and the water quickly drained away. The remaining spiders were quickly lifted up and dropped down the hole before it closed up.

Athena waited, trembling, to see if whomever had saved her was her savior – or worse than the spiders.

"Athena? Are you alright?" Poseidon stepped inside. Close behind him were Hades and Aphrodite.

Athena didn't say anything, but her terror-stricken face was enough answer.

Aphrodite quickly put an arm around the younger goddess. "There, there. It's okay. You can stop crying, now."

Athena hadn't even realized that she had been, but with great difficulty, she managed to slow her sobs and quiet down.

"Did…did you see them?" She whimpered.

Aphrodite nodded and stroked Athena's hair comfortingly. "It's okay. They're gone now."

Athena looked up at the gods, a question written on her face.

"We heard you screaming." Poseidon answered the unasked question. "Neither of us sound-proof our rooms. Even though Apollo's constantly throwing parties in his, we decided it would be better if we could hear in case something happened."

Athena nodded slowly, her mind starting to work again, now that the immediate threat was gone.

"I – thank you." She faltered. "Thanks."

"It's no big deal." Hades shrugged. "Persephone used to be afraid of the dark. I mean, it's not like I haven't dealt with it before."

Aphrodite smiled as the love Hades had for his wife reached her.

"Where's Zeus?" Poseidon demanded. "Didn't you tell him once that you thought spiders were in your room?"

Athena looked down uncomfortably. She remembered the day when a couple spiders had come into the room. She had quickly killed them, not being afraid as she was now, but she had mentioned the incident to Zeus. Hera had gotten irritated and told her that a real goddess would have no reason to fear such small nothings.

"Great father." Hades grumbled. "Even I go comfort Nico if he has a nightmare."

"And I watch over my son in his nightmares." Poseidon nodded in agreement.

"My kids always have sweet dreams blessed with love and beauty. Unless, of course, they need to have nightmares because the Fates decreed it." Aphrodite said simply.

Athena didn't say anything, but she curled up into a ball next to Aphrodite.

Poseidon stoked up the fire, and then he and Hades cautiously made their exit.

"Poseidon?" Athena mumbled drowsily.

He froze, and then turned back. "Yes?"

"That was no nightmare." She murmured.

"Of course, Athena." Poseidon shook his head held the door open for his brother.

"Good night, Hades. Good night, Poseidon." Athena called after them, her voice laced with sleep.

"Good night, Princess." The two brothers both whispered back.

Aphrodite made a move to go.

"Wait, Aphrodite!" Athena squeaked, panic coursing through her veins. When the love goddess turned back to look at her, she flushed.

"Will…will you please stay with me? I – I don't want to be alone." She whimpered slightly. "I mean, until I fall asleep?"

"Certainly." Aphrodite smiled. She slipped back under the covers, and pretty soon, the two exhausted goddesses fell asleep.

In the morning, Zeus looked annoyed as his brothers and Aphrodite requested his audience, to speak about an incident that happened the night before, but soon his irritation was wiped away by embarrassment at not being there for his daughter. It didn't matter that she was one of the strongest goddesses there were on Mount Olympus. Even she needed a guiding hand sometimes.

"Thank you for taking care of her." Zeus mumbled, forcing his pride out of the way.

"It was our pleasure." Aphrodite smiled, showing her dimples. Then her face darkened, and for a moment, she looked _terrifying_. "But it better not _ever_ happen again, am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Zeus meekly saluted.

"Good." With that, Aphrodite whirled around and stormed out, flanked by Poseidon and Hades.


	21. U

**U is for Understanding**

"Movie night, yeah!" Leo cheered. He watched as Piper rolled her eyes and popped in a DVD. "Thank the gods Chiron's letting us use technology, even if it is for only one night."

Hazel shook her head and laughed. "What are we watching?"

"Please tell me it's something good." Percy begged. "I'm ADHD. I won't be able to pay attention if it's something about the architecture of ancient Greek."

"Don't worry, Percy, Piper picked it out, not me." Annabeth snorted. "Besides, I only made you watch that _one_ documentary."

"I know, and I am forever grateful." Percy kissed her on the cheek.

Frank hit the lights and Piper collapsed on the couch next to Jason as the movie came on.

"Disney's Hercules?" Percy asked incredulously. "Seriously, Piper?"

"I thought it would be fun to see all the things they did wrong in the movie." Piper defended.

"Isn't he actually Heracles in Greek, but Hercules in Roman?" Frank asked in confusion.

"Yes, that's a common mistake." Annabeth answered.

"Everyone shut up! The movie is starting!" Leo shouted.

As the movie began, Annabeth kept cutting in with corrections and comments.

"Gods, Annabeth, I feel like I'm in a class, not watching a movie!" Leo finally groaned.

"Sorry, but seriously? Hercules did _not_ do that!" Annabeth mumbled.

"You have to have a special understanding for Greek mythology to know every single little mistake they have in the movie." Jason observed.

"Or you have to be Annabeth." Percy replied.


	22. V

**V is for Victorious**

Artemis glared at Apollo from her throne. "You need to stop flirting with my huntresses!"

"And you need to lighten up a little." Apollo replied.

"It will not bode well for you if you do not thwart your womanizing ways, Apollo." Artemis snapped.

"Someone's been reading the dictionary." Apollo whistled.

"I have not!" Artemis growled.

"Hey, cool it, little sis. I have too! Want to know my favorite word? It's supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious!" Apollo sang out.

"What?" Artemis blinked in confusion.

"It's supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious, even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious! If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious, supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious!" Apollo wasn't certain that he'd gotten the lyrics entirely correct, but he was counting on the fact that Artemis would have no idea what he was doing.

"Apollo, what are you doing?" Artemis asked in exasperation.

"Hm-diddle-diddly-hum-diddle-diddly-hum." Okay, he was _really_ making things up, now.

Artemis stood up and stomped out of the throne room. Apollo grinned and did a little victory dance. He always won these fights.

"Oh, Apollo?" Artemis called back, as though she had forgotten to tell him something.

"Yes, little sis?" Apollo grinned.

"It's um-diddle-diddle-diddle-um-diddle-ay-um-diddle-diddle-diddle-um-diddle-ay, not whatever you thought it was." Artemis corrected.

Apollo watched as she exited the throne room, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Darn it!

Artemis grinned victoriously and transported back to her hunters. This time, under her breath, she was humming and singing a soft tune.

"It's supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious, even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious! If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious, supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious, um-diddle-diddle-diddle-um-diddle-ay-um-diddle-diddle-diddle-um-diddle-ay!"


	23. W

**W is for Wedding**

Today was the day. The special day when the two heroes of Olympus were finally getting married. It was August eighteenth, exactly one year since Percy had proposed.

They hadn't wanted to wait that long, but between so many people coming, and monsters doggedly ready to kill them before they got their happy ever after; it took a while to plan.

The ceremony was held in Camp Half-Blood, but all of Camp Jupiter (even Octavian!) was in attendance. Special accommodations had been made so that Sally and Paul, Mrs. Chase and her sons, and Mr. Chase could be present, although closely watched by Rachel to keep them from offending anyone. Even the gods had shown up.

A knock on the door of Annabeth's cabin (which was being utilized as the dressing room, for the time being) announced a visitor.

"Come in." Annabeth called. She hadn't wanted to get up in fear of ruining her dress.

Athena came strolling in and not far behind her was Poseidon.

"Don't bother kneeling, Annabeth." Poseidon advised. "We don't want your dress getting dirty."

Athena didn't even pause. She walked straight up to Annabeth and studied her, gray eyes meeting gray eyes.

"I had hoped that you wouldn't go through with this." Athena finally admitted. "But now I see that I am wrong. You love the boy, and he most certainly loves you. I cannot stop love, and at this point in time, I don't want to. You're lucky, Annabeth, and I've come to give you my blessing in this chapter of your life."

Annabeth blinked back tears. "Thank you, Mother."

Athena kissed Annabeth's forehead, and smiled – a real, true smile. Not a calculating one, or a triumphant one, but a genuinely happy and kind smile.

Poseidon stepped forward. "I too, have come to give you my blessing. My son…you are his world. Thank you for never giving up on him, no matter how many times he was – as you put it, a 'Seaweed Brain.'"

"I love him." Annabeth said simply. She didn't say anything more. She didn't have to.

There was another knock on the door. "Annabeth, are you ready?"

It was her father.

The two gods disappeared in a flash of light, but not before Poseidon winked at her to let her know that Percy had also had a similar visit.

Annabeth hitched up the bottom of her dress and stepped outside to her father.

Percy waited patiently at the altar (in the dining pavilion.) He wanted this wedding to as perfect as it could possibly go. He was well aware that this would be the very first wedding that took place on Camp Half-Blood grounds between two Greek demigods since, well, the ancient times. Several doubting gods had accused it of being cursed, and Percy was determined to prove them wrong.

The crowd hushed as Ella walked down the aisle, tossing flowers, and Tyson followed, holding their rings securely in his hands.

Campers of all ages flooded in, as the bridesmaids and best men and all the others, starting with Travis and Katie, and ending with Jason and Piper.

Finally, Mr. Chase entered, with Annabeth on his arm.

Percy gazed at her, taking in every detail of how beautiful she looked.

Her blond hair had been left to naturally curl around her face, and she was wearing a long white wedding gown, with frills at the edges and around her waist. The top had a lacy design on it, and the skirt was lifted just an inch to reveal her white heels. The veil expertly hid her face, but Percy could imagine her strong, certain expression.

_Gods of Olympus, she's beautiful. _Percy thought. Sally started crying in the audience, and then everyone was teary eyed, even Percy.

Annabeth reached the altar, and then they waited patiently while Chiron started with the whole speech.

"Perseus Jackson, do you take Annabeth Chase to be your lawfully wedded wife?" He finally said.

"I do." Percy sounded breathless. He hadn't stopped staring at Annabeth the entire time.

"And Annabeth Chase, do you take Perseus Jackson to be your husband?" Chiron recited.

"I do." Her voice was as steady as it could be.

"You may kiss the bride." Chiron announced.

Percy turned toward Annabeth and carefully pulled her veil out of the way. She stepped closer to him, and then closed her eyes.

Their lips touched in a soft kiss, and then Percy pulled her close for another one.

Both were so happy that for a moment, it was pure bliss, neither aware of anything else.

Cheers erupted around the dining pavilion, and they were forced back onto Earth.

Percy stepped back and gazed into Annabeth's eyes.

"You're beautiful." He whispered.

"You're mine." She whispered back.

"I always was." Percy slipped his hand into hers and turned to face their family, everyone already crowding around to offer congratulations.

"Annabeth, throw the bouquet now!" Drew demanded.

Annabeth shrugged and climbed onto one of the benches. She turned so that her back was facing the crowd of girls, (mostly Aphrodite daughters) and threw it over her shoulder.

The winds picked up and the bouquet sailed over all of their heads, landing right in the arms of a shocked Katie Gardner, who was standing on the other side.

"I don't even have a boyfriend!" She protested.

"That's not fair!" Drew shrieked. "How is she supposed to get married next? She doesn't have a boyfriend, and she's not likely to get one! I mean, look at her!"

The entire room was shocked into silence. Everyone turned around and stared at Demeter, who was standing with her mouth open.

"Hey!" Travis Stoll stood up. He walked up, past Drew and threw his arms around Katie. "No need to insult the most beautiful girl in the room just because you're _jealous_, Drew."

Drew's face turned an ugly shade of bright red. "I-I-how could I be jealous of that _thing_?"

"I would watch who you go around insulting. I mean, Katie's an awesome sword fighter, and you? I bet you couldn't even lift up a sword if your life depended on it. Besides, she'll get married next. The Fates don't lie. Or was that what you were implying?" Travis smirked, knowing he had won.

Drew stormed out, and everyone sighed in relief.

"Thanks." Katie murmured.

"Eh, no problem." Travis shrugged. Casually he pulled a ring out of his pocket and showed it to her. "Marry me?"

Katie mouth fell open. Then, she threw the bouquet to the side and kissed Travis. He slipped the ring onto her finger.

"I'm taking that as a yes." He mumbled when she pulled away.

"I can't believe it." Leo murmured from the side. "I get yelled at for not threatening my sister's date the right way, and he can just hand her a ring and say 'marry me,' and get results? That is _not_ fair."

"Speaking of sister's dates, is that Will proposing to Nyssa?" Jason asked, pointing across the room.

Nyssa was squealing in excitement, jumping up and down.

"Looks like it." Leo accepted with a nod. "This time, I'm letting Jake do the threatening."

On the other side of the room, Chris popped the magical question to Clarisse, who broke down crying in happiness.

Grover shyly approached Juniper with a ring, as well. She squealed so loud when she saw it, everyone turned around questioningly.

Percy and Annabeth watched all of this go on without comment. Finally, Annabeth turned back to Percy and smiled.

"May I have this dance?" Percy joked, holding out his hand formally.

"You may." Annabeth laughed. From somewhere, Apollo started up some music. It was enchanted so that everyone heard what they wanted, and just like so many years ago, Percy and Annabeth heard a slow dance.

Even Hera was smiling. She and Aphrodite were talking about something or the other, and Percy heard her admit that she was going to stop bothering them.

"Percy? I love you." Annabeth whispered.

"I love you, too." Percy replied.

They leaned closer together, and their lips met once again, each melting in the embrace of the other. This was true love at its best.


	24. X

**X is for Xanthomonad**

Annabeth stormed into the Hephaestus cabin.

"WHERE IS HE?" She demanded.

"Where's who?" Nyssa asked in confusion, fingering her new emerald ring.

"Leo Valdez." Annabeth growled.

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen him since breakfast. Why?" Jake questioned.

"I'm going to break his neck." Annabeth spat out.

"What did he do this time?" Jake sighed.

"He told Percy about xanthomonads, bacteria producing yellow non-water-soluble pigments; some pathogenic for plants. Now, Percy refuses to step outside of our – his – cabin unless all the plants have been removed. We can't just remove _all_ the plants around his cabin!" Annabeth scowled.

"Why would he even do that?" Nyssa wondered. "I didn't even think he had a word bigger than 'boom' in his vocabulary."

"That's mean." Jake scolded absently. He scratched his head, trying to think of an answer to Nyssa's first question.

"I don't know!" Annabeth whirled around and raged out of their cabin in exasperation and fury.

After a few moments, a grinning head popped out of the back of the cabin.

"Thanks, guys." Leo told them in relief.

"Why did you do that, anyway?" Nyssa asked.

"Percy was being all annoying, bragging that he knew what supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious meant! He doesn't, though. He said it's what you say when you don't know what to say. I had to think of a word longer than that to beat him." Leo explained.

"Leo." Nyssa groaned. "Xanthomondads is a smaller word than supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious."

"What? You mean, Percy actually won?" Leo asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately." Jake shook his head.

Leo pouted, but then ducked behind the bed. He needed to think of an escape plan so that Annabeth didn't kill him.


	25. Y

**Y is for Yearn**

Chiron smiled at Percy and Annabeth as they posed for more pictures that all their friends wanted to take. They would be going away soon to Greece for their honeymoon, although no one could fathom why. They would be going by plane, surprisingly enough, although Zeus was pretty much being blackmailed by all the gods to make it a safe trip.

Chiron knew that they had their whole lives in front of them, and knowing those two, their lives would be filled to the brim with goodness, children, happiness, killing monsters, loving everyone and everything, saving Olympus and the gods, and having a wonderful time as adults.

Still, their lives would end. Just as all the heroes before them. Chiron knew that if they were lucky, they would die painlessly, and die together. They would die, however. That was inevitable.

For once, Chiron wondered what life would be like if Percy had accepted the gods' invitation and become a god. For one, Chiron would have more than just Mr. D as a companion. It would cause problems, however, and Chiron knew that it was just not meant to be.

Nonetheless, Chiron's heart ached with yearning for a companion, for someone who would stay with him forever, who wouldn't die. Someone who would be kind and actually show that he or she cared, someone who would be there…someone, the old centaur realized, who would be special. Someone to love.

Chiron shifted slightly and shook his head. He didn't have time to waste looking for someone to love. All these heroes needed him to train them, to help them on their way.

And Chiron knew, in his heart, he was married to teaching. These heroes needed someone to guide them, and Chiron would be the guide. He always would. That was _his_ immortal choice. There was no time for love, and absolutely no time for yearning.


	26. Z

**Z is for Zoo**

"Annabeth, come on!" Percy shouted back at the blonde figure who was still talking to a dark haired girl.

"For the oldest one, he has the least level of patience. Besides Leo, I mean." Piper observed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and finished her conversation with Thalia.

"He has the lowest level of maturity, too." Thalia remarked to Piper.

"You guys are taking too long!" Percy wailed. He was standing by the camp van, keys in hand, waiting for them to show up.

"We're coming, Perce. Hold on." Frank soothed.

"I don't wanna hold on! If we don't hurry, the zoo will close!" Percy whined.

"Percy, its eight o'clock in the morning. I don't think the zoo will close if we show up at ten." Leo yawned.

"Still." Percy leaped into the driver's seat and honked the horn.

"That probably just woke up, you know, _everybody_." Hazel scolded.

"I don't care. If we don't get to the zoo soon, I'm taking off without you." Percy said stubbornly.

"We can't have that." Nico mumbled sarcastically.

"Get in the van, or we'll never hear the end of it." Thalia suggested. She climbed in the back, followed by Piper and Hazel.

After some scooting around, they managed to fit everybody in the van

"Are we ready?" Percy asked impatiently.

"Yes, Percy. We can go now." Annabeth patted her husband soothingly on the arm.

"This is going to be awesome!" Percy cheered. He babbled on about how wonderful it was going to be as they entered New York City traffic.

"Percy, how can you be this happy so early in the morning?" Thalia groaned, massaging her head.

Annabeth suddenly sat up straight. "Nobody gave him any sugar, did they?"

Up on Olympus, Ares grinned evilly as the candy and sugar he had magically placed in everything Percy had eaten recently began to work down and give the ADHD boy a sugar rush.

Hephaestus TV was already taping them.

Time to sit back, relax, and let the fun begin!


End file.
